Yoseob did not know what to do.



When Mrs. Yoon scooped up more grilled clams onto his plate during a pleasant and simple lunch in a too-extravagant-and-not-so-simple restaurant, Yoseob was utterly baffled. She had that motherly smile on her face and absolute adoration in her eyes – something that Yoseob had always found in Doojoon’s eyes, maybe it was a family thing – and Yoseob did not know what to do.



“Yah, Doojoonah, do you even feed him? He is way beyond anorexic.” She turned to Yoseob and her expression immediately softened, “Yoseobah, you should eat more. Here, more rice.” She scooped a portion that could feed three Doojoons for a whole three months.



Doojoon snorted at this totally biased treatment towards Yoseob, “Mom, he’s not five. Stop it.”



She glared at him, “He is adorable. You are never this adorable even when you were five, so just eat your vegetables.” She pointed at Doojoon’s plate while Doojoon made a face and continued eating, vegetables included. 



In all honesty, Yoseob did not know what to do amidst all of these.



“Yah, you are so quiet,” Doojoon whispered softly and nudged Yoseob on the ribs, “Are you that hungry? Am I really not feeding you well? Are you starving?” Doojoon asked with a concerned look on his face.



Yoseob turned to face the elder and whispered back, “You are feeding me chicken feet, and make me have with you like twenty times a day, every day. Of course I am starving, Oppa. Oh, and you totally in taking care of me.” He gave Doojoon his best unprovoked expression and continued to bury his face in his plate.



“Oppa – Yah, yah, yah – “ Doojoon poked Yoseob’s side repeatedly and the younger started to wiggle a little from the poking, trying to hold his laughter in, but did not respond more, “Yah – Yang Yoseob – yah –“



“.”



Doojoon and Yoseob looked up immediately because of the soft curse, eyebrows raised, mouths slightly opened, oh no his mom did not just – “Mom, you just cursed.” Doojoon’s voice was soft, it was hesitant, as if it was the greatest sin on earth. 



“I know Doojoonah,” she had apologetic eyes towards the both of them, like she just said bad words in front of a bunch of three-year-olds, “I’m sorry – oh – .”



Doojoon burst out into fits of laughter, loud and clear, while Yoseob just chuckled awkwardly. When Doojoon was about to turn his head to follow his mother’s gaze, she kicked him under the table, “Don’t ever turn around. Oh God, she saw me,” she was trying to smile politely, “and how can she get such an adorable and cute son. Unfair.” Her lips did not move when she talked as they were stretched out so wide to hide her exasperation.



“I.Hate.Her – Oh, hi,” Mrs. Yoon stood up and opened up her hands for a brief hug and flashed the other a smile, “How are you? Ah, let me just introduce you to – “ 



The other woman turned around to face Yoseob and Doojoon. 



And Yoseob did not know what to do.



He felt worse than he could ever feel, completely horrified, totally terrified, absolutely furious, mostly mortified, partially guilty, but most of all, he felt apologetic towards Doojoon and his mother, his really nice mother and his really nice father. He felt that, right now, his death was too generous of a gift. He rather died than seeing that face again. 



It was the face that scrunched up in anger when she found Yoseob and Daniel for the first time, the mouth that screamed curses at him when she found out that they ran away, the eyes that winced in disgust when she finally tracked them down, the lips that curved into an evil smile when she threw Yoseob into prison. 



And those memories flooded back into Yoseob’s brain when he saw Mrs. Chae, Daniel’s mother and Yoseob did not know what to do other than dropping his head and sitting tightly in his seat, hoping that she would not recognized him.



Mrs. Yoon continued, “– and this is my future son-in-law, Yang –“



“Yang Yoseob,” the smirk was back on Mrs. Chae’s face. Confusion filled Mrs. Yoon’s face, her smile faded a little, the cheerful tone dissipated a little, and her eyes darted to Doojoon and to Yoseob and to Mrs. Chae, back to Yoseob and then back to Doojoon, “How did – yes, Yang Yoseob. Isn’t he just adorable?” 



Doojoon’s expression started to harden, started to get defensive, get furious, get frustrated. He took Yoseob’s hand in his and looked straight at Mrs. Chae, the evil smirk was making a comeback, the disgusted eyes too, when her gaze travelled down to their intertwined hands, “Of course. So you are already out of prison? Hmm, Yang Yoseob-shi?”



Mrs. Yoon furrowed her eyebrows and knitted her forehead together, totally out of the loop. Her eyes kept looking back and forth to the three people in front of her, searching for enlightenment.



“Doojoonah, you are his next victim? Just like how he ruined Daniel?” The disgusted eyes were definitely making a comeback, definitely. Doojoon was about to retort back, shout back, when Yoseob squeezed Doojoon’s hand and shook his head slightly, eyes still gazing at the floor beneath the table.



Mrs. Chae continued, “I can’t believe this shameless boy. He never learns from his mistake, and from what I remembered he was a – “ 



She was forcefully spinned around when Mrs. Yoon took a hold of her wrist, eyes stabbing daggers, nose breathing fire, and said furiously, “Yah, woman, don’t you dare throw those words towards my son and son-in-law. Now shut your ing trap.” 



Mrs. Chae’s eyes widened in disbelief, “You, – “



“Mom!” A loud and stern voice roared in the restaurant. It was so loud that Yoseob jerked his head up to see the source of the voice. 



Daniel ran towards the table and grabbed his mother’s other wrist, “Mom, stop it! I am so sorry to have disturbed your lunch, Mrs. Yoon.” Daniel bowed politely and Mrs. Yoon patted him at the back, a warm smile plastered on her face, “It’s okay, Daniel, you are always welcome to join us. But please, get your mom home.”



Daniel smiled back and when his mother was about to retort back, he interrupted in a serious tone, “Are you done ruining people’s lives? Let’s go home, you are embarrassing me and Dad.” Daniel dragged his forever-cursing-and-lashing mom out of the restaurant after another polite bow and apology to Doojoon, his mother, and Yoseob (“Yoseob hyung, let’s have chicken feet again sometimes, you too Doojoonie hyung,” he smiled which Yoseob replied in a polite nod and a tiny smile). 



“Oh God, I hate her. I’ve told you guys that I hate her, calling Yoseob a , shameless boy. How could she!” She ironed her skirt with her palms and sat back down into her chair. The small crowd immediately stopped watching and resumed their own activities as if nothing happened at all, the noisy chatter was back into the air. 



Mrs. Yoon smiled cheerfully and said, “That went well.” She sighed happily but quickly her expression changed into worry and concerned when he saw Yoseob’s head dropped so low that his chin met his chest, “Seobie, honey, are you okay?”



Yoseob whipped his head up and smiled cheerfully, a smile that did not reach his eyes, “Yeah, I’m fine, totally okay. I just……just……I just need to pee. I need to use the restroom. Excuse me.” When Yoseob stood up and made to walk to the toilet, Doojoon tightened his hold on the younger’s hand, not letting go. 



Yoseob chuckled softly, “Yah – Doojoonah. Yah, I need to pee,” but his chuckles died down when he saw the seriousness and sincere worry in Doojoon’s eyes. They were dark and overwhelming, and it drowned Yoseob alive. The younger hid his nervousness by clearing his throat and said, “Doojoonie, I need to use the restroom,” as he pried Doojoon’s hold off his hand.



“Be back in five minutes,” Doojoon did not ask, it was not a request, it was an order, to which Yoseob nodded softly to.



Yoseob felt Doojoon’s hold started to loosen and he made his way out of the restaurant to the restroom, with every step he took, it was heavier, it was more apologetic, it was more worried, it was more heartbreaking than before.



He did not smile anymore, but he did not cry either. He just walked away from the love of his life but he did not shed a tear, he was done crying, he was done long ago, and this was a mere repetition and he could go through this again because he was a big boy now. And big boys did not cry.



Just like that, he knew what he had to do. Everything just clicked in his mind, his past with Daniel, his present with Doojoon, his future. Every part of him just fell into place and he knew exactly what he had to do.



He had to disappear from Doojoon’s life.



It was nearing fifteen minutes after Yoseob left and Doojoon was worried sick. He was about to search for Yoseob in the restroom when a crisply dressed waiter approached the table, “Mr. Yoon Doojoon, Sir?”



Doojoon nodded politely and answered, “Yes?”



“I believe this is yours,” the waiter opened his palm, “a blonde boy informed me that you left this in the restroom and asked me to return this to you.” The waiter smiled at Doojoon while his eyes were fixated on the shiny object resting on the waiter’s palm.



His smile widened, “You are very lucky, Sir, it was hard to find someone as honest as the blonde boy nowadays. Isn’t it a good thing that you get your ring back?”